Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
Appendix
Appendix 1: Resources for play
There are lots of toys and equipment that can be used for play, and arranging and resourcing a quality
play environment need not be expensive. Many of the most useful play props are low-cost, can be found
in the natural environment, or can be recycled from homes and businesses. Open-ended materials such
as junk, recyclables and boxes allow for great scope in children’s play. Many of them cost very little, and
provide children with endless opportunities to use their imaginations. Parents and children can be asked to
contribute to building up play resources as can local businesses, who often throw out materials which could
be very useful to children in their play. Local charity shops and school and community jumble sales are
another possible source of materials. This list of resources is not intended to be exhaustive; it is provided
to give some ideas to get you thinking. As always, children’s safety is a priority so keep this in mind when
choosing resources. Also, remember that play props and materials should reflect a variety of backgrounds,
cultures, abilities, genders, and family structures.
Table A: Play resources
Type of play
Babies
Creative play
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See other sections. Many
Toddlers
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of the items listed can be
used in creative play.
Games with rules
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interactive games – Peeka-boo, Hide and seek,
making faces, singing,
story telling, nursery
rhymes
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picture books (wipeable)
with pictures of real
things, or with very
short stories, books with
different textures, bath
books
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of the items listed can be
used in creative play.
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Language play
See other sections. Many
Young children
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a CD player and a variety
of CDs
puppets
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books with songs,
rhymes, jingles, skipping,
clapping rhymes
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CDs with songs, chants,
rhymes
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word games
card games like picture
snap
items listed can be used in creative
play.
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computer games
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bingo, lotto games
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matching games
pictures of rhyming
words – cat, mat, house,
mouse, etc.
pretend props as all
imaginary play has
rules of behaviour (See
resources listed below.)
See other sections. Many of the
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board games – snakes and ladders,
dominoes, drafts, playing cards
word and number games and
puzzles – building words and
making nonsense sentences with
cardboard letters
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Hide and seek, chase
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skittles, football
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games like Row, row, row
your boat
giant snakes and ladders, hop
scotch to play outdoors (These
could be painted on the ground.)
social games, welcome
songs, sharing games
games like Simon says,
I spy or Follow the leader
all kinds of books,
especially ones on first
experiences – going to
the doctor, the dentist,
the hospital, going on an
aeroplane, moving house,
getting a new baby, losing
a loved one
tapes or CDs
toy phones or
microphones or old real
ones
CDs that compare and
explore sounds in the
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all types of books, books with no
words that can prompt the child
to make up the story, books that
represent the interests of children
– tractors, pets, occupations,
friends, travel, books written in the
home languages of the children
books about feelings
multicultural puppets with realistic
features
materials to make own books
about themselves, their families,
Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
Type of play
Babies
Appendix
Toddlers
Language play
(continued)
home, environment
– dogs barking, child
laughing, water running,
phone ringing
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Young children
their interests, their friends, their
skills, and their abilities
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materials, props to
dramatise stories/things
that happen
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Physical play
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balls, blocks, hollow
cubes, strongly strung
beads
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construction toys (tool
and small blocks, bricks)
skates, slides, climbing frames, a
things to smell, taste,
touch and listen to
opportunities to sit,
crawl, shuffle, stretch,
experience cause and
effect
cornflour, gloop, playdough, water
dancing, going for walks,
swings, swimming
activity mats/circles/
gyms
basket ball hoop, skittles and other
balls, stacking toys, large
throwing games, relay games/
threading beads
races, access to wide open spaces,
ride-on toys, tricycles,
traditional street games like
pull and push toys,
skipping with a rope, hop scotch
slides, carts, buggies,
floor level safety mirror
with hand rail
beams, blocks, boxes, wheeled
toys, tractors, bicycles, roller
musical instruments,
musical activity toys
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boards, lacing materials, threading
transport materials
beads, empty spools, large and
inset boards, jigsaws,
small construction materials, a
simple puzzles
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model making equipment, sewing
materials, sewing cards, peg
trailers and containers to
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hoops, bean bags, balls, balancing
features – slopes, steps,
small climbing frames,
shakers, rattles, teethers,
mouthing toys
pebbles
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low walls
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sand, water, stones, leaves, twigs,
a variety of physical
soft play mats
tunnels, tents, large
cardboard boxes
story bags (pillow cases, coloured
drawstring bags) with books (one
fiction and a related non-fiction
one in each) along with supporting
materials – puppets, pictures,
photos, related games, activities,
paper, colours
grass, feathers, clay, dough, wood,
interlocking toys, large
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street games, rhymes –
Ring-a-ring-a rosy, Red rover
lentils, cornflower, pasta, flowers,
ride on and push and pull
along toys, empty boxes
and cartons with string
attached that can be
pulled along
push up/pop up toys,
activity centres, mobiles
to hang over cots
pretend play props (see below.)
boxes, hard hats, dumper
bath toys, jugs/
containers for pouring
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story boards (large pieces of
cardboard painted with openended landscapes) with small
props (small world figures and
animals) that can be used to
develop different stories/scenarios
set, milk cartons, shoe
trucks, measuring tapes,
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families of rhyming words
real measuring tape, zips, buttons,
activity centres, spinning
paper clips, bottle caps, table top
tops
activities, sorting sets, interlocking
chunky crayons, writing
and mark-making
bricks, matching games
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materials, books, aprons,
chalk, sand, water, paint
(non-toxic), various kinds
a variety of positive images
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to make jigsaws
large brushes, markers,
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laminated pictures of the children
cut up and stuck on to cardboard
of paper, old magazines,
glue, scraps of coloured
material, blackboard and
chalk, play-dough, lentils,
pasta, safety scissors,
clay, wood, twigs, leaves,
stones, seashells, skin
tone paints and pencils,
jig-saws and play figures depicting
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science materials/sets, microscope,
magnifying glass, magnets, old
clocks
variety of paints, brushes, sponges,
straws, pencils, textured materials
like felt, cloth, seeds, velvet,
corrugated paper, crayons/paints
Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
Type of play
Physical play
(continued)
Babies
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nesting/stacking toys
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treasure baskets
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shape sorters
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chunky crayons, paper,
chubby paint brushes and
non toxic paints
Appendix
Toddlers
mirrors for portrait
painting
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Pretend play
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soft toys, dolls, puppets
(finger- and hand-held)
household items – pots,
pans, wooden spoons,
measuring cups,
jugs, whisks, spoons,
colanders, teapots
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cardboard boxes
bunches of keys, empty
containers with lids
wind up musical toys
tea sets, hats, shawls,
blankets, buggies, beds,
hammers
Young children
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that match children’s skin tones,
pencils, junk materials, stories,
books, cardboard, old magazines,
old wrapping paper, end lines
of wall paper, paper plates, clay,
chalk, dough, a variety of paper
of different colours, sizes and
textures, safety scissors (left
and right handed), ink pads and
stamps, sellotape
musical instruments and
musical toys
a toy hammer and pegs
tunnels/barrels for
climbing through, pop
up tents, large empty
cardboard boxes, slopes,
steps, curves, structures
for climbing on/over/
under, opportunities to
run, jump, climb, a traffic
sign set, road markings
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nests of shapes/hollow
blocks
sand and water trays (or
a basin/bath), a selection
of sand equipment
(baking tins, moulds,
cutters, jugs, measuring
spoons, spades, cups,
sand and water wheels,
buckets, colanders), water
equipment (watering
cans, balls, boats, plastic
cars and trucks, washable
dolls, tea sets, funnels,
things that float/sink,
plastic bottles, empty
liquid soap bottles,
bubbles)
sand/water trays, an outside
tap, hoses, plastic piping/
tubing, gardening equipment,
shovels,rakes, wheelbarrows,
watering cans, seeds, a bird
feeder/table, equipment to pour,
measure, cut, manipulate, scoop,
fill, pretend with, build with, make
shapes with, containers of the
same and different sizes/shapes
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musical instruments, items that
make noise (babies’ rattles, wind
chimes, bells), materials to make
their own musical instruments
(plastic bottles, pebbles, biscuit tins)
old machinery, wheels, old clocks,
piping
computers, digital cameras
cooking ingredients, baking trays,
spatulas, wooden spoons
different smelling
materials and bottles
sound boxes (cereal
boxes filled with different
sounding things –
pebbles, pasta)
matching games
clothes, hats and other
props, old curtains or
sheets
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small versions of real life
kitchen equipment – pots,
pans, utensils, toddler
sized cookers and sinks,
mirrors, a table, chairs,
a sofa
tea sets, dressing up
models of animals,
vehicles, people, houses,
farm sets, halting sites
(representative of local
communities)
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culturally diverse cooking utensils,
food packages, clothes, home
props reflective of children’s
family experiences (real kitchen
equipment, weighing scales,
teapots, colanders, baking trays,
woks, chopsticks, table and chairs,
a sofa, an old hairdryer, a kettle,
a toaster with the flex cut off),
purses, empty food containers
reflective of what children see their
families using
restaurant, flower shop, office
props, post office, travel agents,
hospital, doctor, dentist, vet,
Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
Type of play
Pretend play
(continued)
Babies
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cars, tractors, trains,
aeroplanes
safety mirrors
Appendix
Toddlers
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Young children
small brushes, mops, a
real dustpan and brush
play houses, cubby/hidey
holes
chipper, pizzeria, social welfare
office props
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small tables, chairs, sofas, sinks
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a picnic table, garden seat
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cuddly toys
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a cash register, toy money
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sorting and posting boxes
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a large safety mirror
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old mobile phones, toy
and real telephones, old
computer keyboard
large cardboard boxes
fire station and shop
props
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dressing up clothes that reflect
children’s experiences, old shoes,
handbags, old mobile phones,
old spectacles, cameras, saris,
everyday clothes, hats, a clothes
rail, a mirror, a dressing table, an
iron and ironing board
a bench with pegs and a hammer,
a drill, a hard hat, overalls
dolls with a variety of clothes
boy and girl dolls with a range
of skin tones and hair types
and realistic multicultural racial
features, dolls that reflect children
with SEN
a puppet theatre and puppets
buggies, cots, a doll/baby bath
plus accessories, microphones,
tape recorders, digital cameras
puppets, soft toys
small world materials – people,
cars, animals, train sets, farm sets,
a garage, road mat sets, a doll’s
house and furniture, dinosaurs,
small world figures including
people from different cultures
and different disabilities including
people in wheelchairs, with
glasses, hearing aids, crutches
tree houses, dens, a playhouse
inside and outside.